'They gave everything' — Ray Keane praises Cork effort despite Munster final loss to Kerry

Cork U20 football manager Ray Keane said he was “disappointed and proud in equal measure” after his side’s 3-14 to 0-20 defeat to Kerry in Thursday evening’s Dalata Hotel Group Munster U20 Football Championship final at Austin Stack Park in Tralee.

Cork hit twenty points and played plenty of good football, but Kerry’s three goals — each arriving at important moments — were what settled a tight contest.

Kerry have now completed a fifth straight title, while Cork’s wait to reclaim the crown goes on, having last won it in 2021.

For Keane, the frustration came from the narrow margins that turned the game.

“Obviously we’re very disappointed, but I would say equally very proud,” he said post-match.

“At the end of the day we lost the game, but you’d expect nothing else from that group only to keep fighting for it, and that’s exactly what they did. It’s small, small margins at the end of the day — maybe a lack of composure at times — but that’s life.

“We’ll get on with it. We’re just delighted those lads gave everything that was in them.” 

Cork started strongly, moving the ball well and kicking with confidence. They built a lead that stretched to seven points, but Kerry’s first-half goals changed the flow of the match. What had been a solid Cork position disappeared quickly.

“At a vital stage of the game we went fifteen minutes or something like that without scoring,” Keane says. 

“Again, small things — one or two balls went up, the bounce went one way, we missed a goal chance. They went down and got one, if not two, in that period. We were up seven, and went in four down.

“Came out, battled away, they went eight up at one stage I think, and then we were back to one. Small things. But that’s the joys of it.” 

Kerry’s third goal, arriving just as Cork were building momentum again, looked like it might finish the game as a contest. But Keane said he never doubted the character of his players.

“I’d never say we were in for a trimming with this group,” the Éire Óg clubman stated.

“One thing they have in spades is heart and courage. They’ll keep battling away. And when you think of all the lads that are out with injuries, they fought tooth and nail. I’d never think we were in for a trimming.” 

Cork got the gap back to a single point in injury time, only for a late free to give Kerry the chance to steady themselves. Keane didn’t get drawn into any debate about the decision by referee Chris Maguire.

The Clare native didn’t receive a warm response from the Cork support as he went down the tunnel after the game.

“I won’t get into the referee,” Keane said.

“You had a better vantage point than me. If you thought it wasn’t a free, that’s your view, and who am I to argue? At the end of the day, we lost the game, and such is life.

“Maybe where you’ll really judge this is in two or three years’ time — how many of those lads are playing senior football for Cork. That’s the ultimate test.

“You can see they have bags of talent, bags of heart and commitment. To me, this should be a stepping stone for them. It would’ve been nice to win, it would’ve been great to win, and ultimately it is about winning. But the real judge will be how many of them are playing in two or three years’ time.

“It wasn’t for lack of trying, but such is life. They’re the small margins we’re constantly talking about. We kicked twenty points and lost the game — twenty scores versus seventeen. Small things. But we’ll get on with it, dust ourselves down, and we’ll go to work in the morning.” 

Cork leave Tralee without silverware, but not without signs of progress. Their scoring return, their fight, and their refusal to fade after Kerry’s goals all point to a group with plenty ahead of them.